ICLEI South Asia, as a sectoral expert, conducted a survey in 10 gram panchayats of four districts (Muzaffarpur, Samstipur, Nalanda, and Begusarai) of Bihar to understand the on-ground solid and liquid waste management practices in the state. The survey in the gram panchayats was initiated under the Preparation of Bihar State Waste Sector GHG Emissions Inventory and Action Plan funded by Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF). The Government of Bihar has committed to developing the state of Bihar into a Zero Carbon State by the year 2040. In this context, different partners have been invited to prepare a low carbon action plan for the state of Bihar, and ICLEI South Asia, with funding support from SSEF is supporting the low carbon plan for the sectors of municipal solid and liquid waste management.

The survey of the ground situation of solid and liquid waste management will feed into the larger objective of preparing a realistic low carbon action plan. Supported by the State Pollution Control Board, discussions were held at length with the local community, heads of gram panchayats, district consultants, and sanitary supervisors of the Lohiya Swachh Bihar Abhiyan to understand the existing scenario of waste management in rural Bihar.

The survey helped to assess the solid and liquid waste management system in the gram panchayats and identify technical, infrastructural and human resource gaps in the system. The outcomes of the survey were discussed in the project progress meeting held with the Principal Secretary, Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of Bihar on the 12^th and 13^th of July 2022. The low carbon action plan of the solid and liquid waste sector is expected to be developed by the end of August 2022.